Vernor Vinge, a science-fiction writer and professor known for introducing the concept of a technological singularity and the term “cyberspace,” has died at the age of 79. He is most famous for his works “True Names,” “A Fire Upon the Deep,” “The Coming Technological Singularity,” and “Fast Times at Fairmont High.”
Author David Brin announced Vinge’s death on Wednesday. Vinge passed away in La Jolla, California.
“It is with sorrow — and profound gratitude for my friend and colleague — that I must announce the death of Vernor Vinge,” Brin stated. “A giant in the literary genre that explores a limitless range of potential destinies, Vernor captivated millions with stories of believable futures, made more vivid by his expertise in language, drama, characters and the impacts of science.”
Vinge, who received several Hugo awards, was born on October 2, 1944 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Recognized for popularizing and being one of the first to explore the technological singularity concept and the imaginary “cyberspace” in literary works, Vinge published his first short story “Apartness” in June 1965. A year later, he wrote “Bookworm, Run,” which appeared in the March 1966 edition of Analog Science Fiction. He introduced the concept of “singularity” — a term he coined in a 1983 article in relation to computers and AI — and expanded on it in his 1993 essay “The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era.”
Vinge asserted that there would be a cultural shift once humans created technology smarter than themselves, akin to the core of a black hole — a singularity, where technology started to improve itself and advance at an extraordinary pace. He predicted that we would reach this singularity by the year 2030.
“We are mourning the loss of science fiction icon Vernor Vinge,” the official account for pop culture festival Comic-Con posted on X (formerly Twitter). “He was a retired professor at San Diego State University and a regular panelist at Comic-Con. He received the Inkpot Award in 1992.”
Vinge was honored with Hugo awards for “A Fire Upon the Deep,” “A Deepness in the Sky,” “Rainbows End,” and his novellas “Fast Times at Fairmont High” and “The Cookie Monster.” Besides writing, he also earned his Ph.D in mathematics from the University of California, San Diego, where he taught until 2000.
In his later years, Vinge was being treated for progressive Parkinson’s disease, although Brin mentioned that he was “relatively comfortable.”
“I am currently too distressed to write much more. Tributes will certainly be paid and we will share some on a memorial page. I will say that it’s quite overwhelming to be a ‘Killer B’ who’s still standing. So, let me end with a photo that means a lot to me,” Brin expressed. “We spanned a fairly wide spectrum — politically! Yet, we KBs (Vernor was a full member! And Octavia Butler once laughed happily when we admitted her) always shared a profound love of our high art — that of thought experiments, speculation into the unknown territory ahead. And — if Vernor’s readers continue to be inspired — that territory might even offer more solutions than problems. And perhaps abundant reserves of hope.”
